When tragedy strikes such as a natural disaster, theft, illness or even death, the last thing you want to worry about is if you can find everything you need. The problem is that most of us don’t want to think about horrible things happening. The reality is that they do happen and death escapes no one.

Are you prepared? This is a great question to start with. With a little preparation and planning you can feel better about the unknown. You may need other family members to take care of you or your affairs and this is going to really be helpful to them. The last thing anyone wants to do in the event of an emergency is to sift through papers. Preparation is the key to making this a little less stressful.

Let’s take a look at how to prepare.

Step 1 is to gather the following:

-Insurance policies & contact info

-Bank accounts & contact info (including investment and retirement)

-list of monthly debts & contact info

-passports

-original social security card

-health insurance cards

-...

Living balanced is a topic near and dear to my heart. It is the place I am at my best. It is found in the mind, body and spirit. It took me a long time to figure out why I was struggling with myself and my relationships. The imbalance I had in my mind, body and spirit did not lead me to being my best version of me.

Living balanced does not mean your mind, body and spirit must be divided equal, that might be impossible. Nor does it mean that life is perfect, that too, would be impossible. The point of living in balance is knowing what you need to be the best version of you.

Think of the mind, body and spirit as ratios. There may be times when you are 60% mind, 20% body and 20% spirit. If you are feeling like you are at your best with these ratios then you are living balanced. The problem may come in if you live this way all the time. Tuning into what makes you and then figuring out what makes you better is a great benefit to living balanced. After a period of time living with a focus ...

November is a special month to slow down and count your blessings. 

This mindful process helps to make the month even more meaningful.
You can do these by yourself or with your family.

1. A family Gratitude sheet
This is a really great way to get everyone involved and focused on being thankful. By keeping this in a central location in your home everyone gets to share in the gratitude. Don’t forget your out of town guests, they can join in too! When the month is over, the paper goes into the memento keeper for the family scrap book.

Supplies:
A tablet of paper
Pen ( if you have little ones, they can use pictures instead of writing, in which case you will need glue)

2. A gratitude board is a more creative way to display what you are thankful for in picture form. You can choose to build on it as the month progresses or make it all at once. Plan to have it in a place
people can see it.

Supplies needed:
Cork board, dry erase board, poster board or anything else of that size
Pictures of all ...

I stumbled into my home office after a week of busy and did a double take. Where did all of this paper come from?  I just did the filing last week! Oh, I don’t have time to tackle this….sound familiar??

Well, this unfortunately moved to the top of the priority list because there were things I needed to take care of in a timely manner if I could only find them!

As a Professional Organizer, I help countless people get their stuff in order and now it would appear I am in need of an Organizer!  I had to be the Organizer for myself because I didn’t have time to get one of my Organizer friends into my mess.

Step 1: Turn on the music, in my case it was a podcast. Listened to this fictional crime story called, Dirty John done by a LA Times reporter.  It was a 6 episode podcast so that gave me plenty of time to get this project done.

Step 2: Eliminate distraction- I had to schedule myself “off” to the rest of the world. FOCUS is the name of the game!

Step 3: Sort through the paper piles: S...

There appears to be some unwritten rule that says everyone must use a dresser. I am here to tell you that is just not true. In fact, many people can lead a simpler life if there is no dresser. It actually lessens stress and saves time when there is no dresser to contend with. Seems kind of scandalous, doesn’t it? I have performed my own informal research as a Professional Organizer to come to this conclusion. Let me share this revelation with you…..

Most of the time, the dresser is used for storage on top with very little going in the drawers themselves. Very commonly, if there are items inside the dresser they are rarely worn and I will hear,” Oh, I didn’t know I still had that!” 

For some people, there is an out of sight, out of mind reality. The fear is that putting items in the drawer and closing it will prevent those items from ever being found again.

In some cases, I realized that opening a drawer and closing it was too many steps for individuals struggling with executive func...

We all desire order in our lives, some of us more than others. Here are 10 areas you can get a handle on this fall. It’s all in the spirit of being proactive which allows you to save time and money.

1.    The Calendar

      Do you use one? Paper vs technology

      Do you check it often enough?

      Is it overbooked?

      Schedule yourself a little downtime either daily or weekly

2.   Coat closet

      Prepare for the change in weather

      Locate the hats, winter coats, rain jackets, umbrellas, mittens, gloves and boots. This is when you want to know if the boots fit your children not when there is a looming blizzard!

3.   Medicine Cabinet

      Get rid of expired items

      Stock up for allergy season

      Stock up on the cold/flu medications

4.  Bedroom closet

     Bring out the appropriate clothing for the changing weather-flannel pj’s, fuzzy slippers, sweaters, etc.

     Go through the items from sping/summer and determine what can be donated....

 The minimalist lifestyle is becoming quite popular. Some may choose to live in their homes that way but I choose to live my schedule in this manner. The one key thing to living as a minimalist in any area of your life is to cut out anything that doesn’t belong.

In scheduling, this requires an assessment of your calendar.

Let’s talk assessment, do you know your priorities for you and your family? This sounds basic but I honestly believe it isn’t looked at enough. So, the question to ponder is what do you want your life to look like on a daily basis? Do you want to run around in many different directions without the time to breathe or speak to one another? Do you want to have a qualitative life filled with what you have determined to be the most important activities and tasks?  There was a day in particular when I must have said, “hurry up” to my boys at least 25 times! I realized then that I might have a problem!! I really was afraid they were only going to have memories of being dra...

This is one of those topics you just never know how it will be received! My goal is to educate and offer support without judging, this is a subject near and dear to my heart as a Professional Organizer.

I see this the most in the closet. Most of my clients don’t have enough room in their closets to fit all of their clothes. I have to talk with them about how they got to this place and then we can move forward to organizing the closet. Letting go of the clothes can be a stressful event if not handled carefully. Many well meaning loved ones think that shaming the person will get them to purge and stop shopping, not true at all. In some cases, it can make the condition worse, much worse.

So, let’s be clear, a shopping spree is different than an addiction to shopping. There’s an emotional and behavioral experience that goes on with an addiction to shopping/compulsive buying, not unlike many other addictions. One of the essential distinctions is the euphoria one feels when they shop, it’s...

It’s the end of the school year and time to clean out dorm rooms, lockers and backpacks for millions of students. It is also peak moving season. What do these scenarios have in common? BOOKS!! Where can these books go?

Well, there are plenty of high school students who have required reading to do over the summer and you may have a book they need.Check out the local high school’s required reading list to see if you have something on that list.  Younger children are encouraged to read over the summer as well and some may not be able to afford the purchase of new books. College students spend a lot of money on books that they no longer need but someone else may.

You may choose to do one of 2 things with your gently used unwanted books, get paid for them or donate them.

If you would like to make a little money off your books here are some places you could use.

1.    Hold a yard sale - be prepared for people to haggle on your prices so price accordingly.

2.    Flea markets - you may be...

It’s a new season of life for so many of us. May-June is that time of year where the talk is of change and what is coming. Then August-September rolls around and change just happens. Graduations always bring CHANGE! In my home, we have been through this twice and are about to go through it again!

For so many years, being someone’s mom has been the most important focus of every day and rightfully so. Somehow during that time, the actual person behind the mom disappeared. I like to think she is still there but much quieter because of the enormity of being someone’s mom. From time to time she likes to do what she really likes to do and then the rest of the time she goes along with the flow of the family. This is not a slight at being a mom but is a reality. There is an imbalance in the mom-wife-person ration. Mom in most cases wins out!!

Part of what I do as a Professional Organizer is to figure out where my clients are. Usually, in talking with them for a few minutes I get a feel for w...